• DE&I Commitment
  • Careers
  • Locations
  • Book a Meeting
    Book a Meeting
  • Company
    Learn a little more about us, our values, and our team
    Our Values
    We don't just talk the talk; we live by our core values
    About Us
    Empowering brands to realize their potential with data, insights, and technology
    Leadership
    Meet our leadership team
    Secure Data Architecture
    Our promise of data security and privacy. We keep your data safe from publishers, competitors and bad actors
    Corporate Social Responsibility
    We are committed to making a positive impact on our communities and our planet
  • Platform
    Plan, manage, optimize, and measure your campaigns with our omnichannel platform
    Our Platform
    A platform that connects all walled garden media
    Connected Media
    Create and manage campaigns across search, social, retail media and apps, in one platform
    Connected Data
    Make data-driven decisions as you plan and strategize
    See the industries we serve
    Learn how our customizable solutions can help with your unique needs
    Explore our partner integrations
    See the media, retailer, and data partners we work with
  • Clients
  • News and Events
    Check out recent announcements and see what we’re up to
    News
    Check out our recent media coverage
    Events
    Join us for our next conference or webinar
    Roundtable discussion: Beyond Onsite
    Tackle the next phase of retail media over breakfast with Nectar360 and peers
    Retail Media for Grocery Webinar
    Join us to dig into trends and challenges shaping the industry in 2023
  • Resources
    From new releases, to industry trends and best practices, Skai has you covered
    Blog
    Read the latest insights and thought leadership from our industry experts
    Capabilities
    Take your campaigns to the next level by enhancing your platform capabilities
    Research
    Explore our reports and whitepapers so you can keep up on the latest industry trends
    Subscribe
    Sign up to get the latest updates straight to your inbox
    Quarterly Trends Report
    Learn digital advertising campaign performance trends from Q4 2022
Back to Blog

2019: The Year Online Advertising Spending Eclipses Offline

Joshua Dreller, Sr. Director, Content Marketing @ Skai™

October  08, 2019

Online advertising has been growing along with the rise of the Internet. At the turn of the century, digital was less than 3% of total marketing budgets, but this year it has now grown bigger than offline, traditional spending. This is certainly a major milestone for advertising and signals a significant shift in how brands engage consumers. 

online advertising

We’ve long seen the signs: smaller audiences for network TV, traditional print publications closing up shop, an entire generation that has no idea how to mail a letter. But the recent numbers confirm that traditional advertising just might be going the way of the landline and the CD player. 

A February 2019 study by eMarketer found that online advertising spend has officially outpaced traditional, and by 2023, digital ad spend will make up two-thirds of total media spend:

“Total digital ad spending in the US will grow 19% to $129.34 billion this year—54.2% of estimated total US ad spending,” the report read. “And mobile will continue its dominance, accounting for more than two-thirds of digital ad spending, at $87.06 billion this year.”

Here are a few reasons advertisers are flocking to digital. 

Attention has gone online

No judgment, but chances are, you checked your email and social media before you even got out of bed this morning. A recent study by ReportLinker confirms that we’re pretty tied to our devices. It found 46% of Americans check their smartphones first thing in the morning. And further research shows that they don’t stop connecting with digital media at any point in the day. 

The 2019 Digital Report from Hootsuite found that Americans are spending, on average, six hours and 42 minutes online each day, and half of that time is spent on mobile. As we spend less time with traditional forms of media and more time on devices, it makes sense that advertisers would follow the eyeballs–straight to digital media. 

generational marketing

Read this complimentary white paper on generational marketing

Engagement is easier to measure than ever before with online advertising

There’s a reason we don’t measure click-through rates from television commercials. Because it’s impossible. However, digital advertising, no matter the form, gives audiences the opportunity to take immediate action. Remember when TV ads used to implore viewers to “call today”? In the online world, “call today” has turned into “click right now,” and audiences are responding. It has never been easier to connect with brands, and users have come to expect their favorite businesses to meet them where they actually are, which is online. 

Offline ads are static. Online advertising is dynamic.

Without a doubt, there are some traditional advertisements that are absolutely iconic. Coca-Cola’s “I’d Like to Buy the World a Coke” ad was so good it was featured in the final episode of Mad Men. But for every “I’d Like to Buy the World a Coke,” there are probably ten thousand more traditional ads that audiences find irrelevant, annoying, or even offensive. 

However, online advertising is served one at a time. And advertisers can watch campaigns play out in real-time. If no one is clicking, watching, commenting, or sharing, advertisers can begin tweaking their content, testing those tweaks, and serving audiences ads they actually want to engage with. 

online advertising

Personalized ads are now possible in online advertising

And while some traditional ad campaigns seem to strike a nerve and resonate with pretty much all audiences, studies have shown that most customers would like messaging to be much more personal. A 2016 study by Adlucent found that the vast majority, 71%, of consumers prefer personalized advertising. Luckily there are so many ways to serve customers ads that are relevant to their interests, location, or demographic. 

Twenty years ago, it would have been hard to believe that businesses would eventually be able to serve a potential customer an ad based on their zip code, radius, or even proximity to a store, not to mention targeting based on the items they looked at on a brand’s website. These days, those things are not only available, but they also the standard and make all the difference in offering audiences personalized, relevant messaging.  

Measurement is much more detailed in online advertising

John Wanamaker, a merchant and U.S. marketing pioneer once famously said “Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted. The trouble is, I don’t know which half.” And it’s true, in the old days of traditional advertising, there was no way to tell which targets saw your ad and which used it to line a birdcage. 

One giant benefit of digital advertising is that likely no one is using it to line a birdcage. Another is that it is so much easier to tell exactly how customers are interacting with messaging. With digital, advertisers can see in real-time which site, keyword, social post or sponsored search results drove the conversion. This instantly-available data makes it easier than ever before to see which ads customers are responding to, which also makes optimizing what’s working and course-correcting what isn’t easier than it’s ever been before. 

Of course, there’s still a place for those iconic, Mad Men-era campaigns. Coke’s remastered “I’d Like to Buy the World a Coke” video currently has over 350k views on YouTube. 

Book a Meeting of Skai

Related Posts

  • The Annual Skai Hackathon Fosters Team-Building and Innovation
    Read More
  • What’s Going to Happen with Multi-Touch Attribution in a Cookieless World?
    Read More
  • How Skai Takes the Growing Pains Out of the Client Onboarding Process
    Read More
  • [WATCH] Reinvent Your Marketing Strategy for the Next Normal
    Read More
  • Monthly Paid Media Spend Snapshot – April 2021
    Read More
  • Monthly Paid Media Spend Snapshot – September 2021
    Read More
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on LinkedIn
  • Share via Email
  • Copy Link
    Copied!
Tags: Apps, Create, Data, Data & Insights, Ecommerce, Local, Measure, Optimize, Plan, Research, Search, Social, Target, xTLx

Subscribe to Updates

Media that matters.
Marketing that works.
© 2023 Kenshoo, Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
Privacy Policy. Cookie Policy. Recruitment Privacy Policy.
  • Connected Data
    • Market Intelligence
    • Our Approach
    • By Need
    • By Solution
  • Connected Strategy
    • Dynamic Marketing Mix
    • Budget Forecasting
    • Strategic Consulting
  • Connected Media
    • Overview
    • Retail Media
    • Paid Search
    • Paid Social
    • App Marketing
    • Auditing
    • Expert Services
  • Measurement
    • Incrementality
    • Experiments
    • Cross-Channel Attribution
  • Resources
    • Blog
    • Glossary
    • Case Studies
    • Training & Enablement
    • Developer Hub
Privacy Preference

We use cookies on our website. Some of them are essential, while others help us to improve this website and your experience.

Privacy Preference

Save All

Save

Accept Only Essential Cookies

Manage Cookie Preferences

Cookie Details Privacy Policy Imprint

Privacy Preference

Here you will find an overview of all cookies used. You can give your consent to whole categories or display further information and select certain cookies.

Save All Save Accept Only Essential Cookies

Back

Privacy Preference

Essential cookies enable basic functions and are necessary for the proper function of the website.

Show Cookie Information Hide Cookie Information

Name
Provider Owner of this website, Imprint
Purpose Saves the visitors preferences selected in the Cookie Box of Borlabs Cookie.
Host(s) .skai.io, skai.io
Cookie Name borlabs-cookie
Cookie Expiry 1 Year
Name
Provider Owner of this website
Purpose This cookie stores selections made by the user in the Accessibe tool in order to maintain those settings on future visits. These cookies help us make our website compliant with our obligations under US law.
Privacy Policy https://accessibe.com/privacy-policy
Cookie Name acsbState, acsbReset
Cookie Expiry n/a
Name
Provider Owner of this website
Host(s) skai.io
Cookie Name wordpress_sec_,wordpress_test_cookie,wp-postpass_*, wordpresspass_*, wordpressuser_*
Cookie Expiry Session / 1 Year

We use these cookies to enhance functionality and allow for personalisation, such as live chats, videos and the use of social media.

Show Cookie Information Hide Cookie Information

Accept
Name
Provider Owner of this website
Host(s) .chilipiper.com, skai.chilipiper.com
Cookie Name fs_uid, CHILI_PIPER_CLUSTER, guest-session, _sp_ses*, _sp_id*
Cookie Expiry Session / 2 Years
Accept
Name
Provider Owner of this website
Host(s) .comeet.co, www.comeet.co
Cookie Name visid_incap_, nlbi_#######, incap_ses_, referrer22_00a, incap_ses_1364_2167377
Cookie Expiry Session / 1 Year
Accept
Name
Provider Owner of this website
Host(s) skai.io
Cookie Name moduleFormPardotDownload
Cookie Expiry 30 days

Statistics cookies collect information anonymously. This information helps us to understand how our visitors use our website.

Show Cookie Information Hide Cookie Information

Accept
Name
Provider Google Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland
Purpose Cookie by Google used for website analytics. Generates statistical data on how the visitor uses the website.
Privacy Policy https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en
Cookie Name _ga,_ga_*,_gat,_gat_*,_gid
Cookie Expiry 2 Months
Accept
Name
Provider Hotjar Ltd., Dragonara Business Centre, 5th Floor, Dragonara Road, Paceville St Julian's STJ 3141 Malta
Purpose Hotjar is an user behavior analytic tool by Hotjar Ltd.. We use Hotjar to understand how users interact with our website.
Privacy Policy https://www.hotjar.com/legal/policies/privacy/
Host(s) *.hotjar.com
Cookie Name _hjClosedSurveyInvites, _hjDonePolls, _hjMinimizedPolls, _hjDoneTestersWidgets, _hjIncludedInSample, _hjShownFeedbackMessage, _hjid, _hjRecordingLastActivity, hjTLDTest, _hjUserAttributesHash, _hjCachedUserAttributes, _hjLocalStorageTest, _hjptid, _hjSessionUser_2229986, _hjIncludedInPageviewSample, _hjIncludedInSessionSample, _hjAbsoluteSessionInProgress, _hjFirstSeen
Cookie Expiry Session / 1 Year

Marketing cookies are used by third-party advertisers or publishers to display personalized ads. They do this by tracking visitors across websites.

Show Cookie Information Hide Cookie Information

Accept
Name
Provider Linkedin
Cookie Name lidc, li_gc, lang, AnalyticsSyncHistory, UserMatchHistory, li_sugr, bcookie, TDCPM, TDID, bscookie, ln_or
Cookie Expiry Session / 1 Year
Accept
Name
Provider Skai
Accept
Name
Provider 6sense
Cookie Name _gd_session, _an_uid, _gd_visitor, _gd_svisitor, 6suuid
Cookie Expiry Session / 400 Days
Accept
Name
Provider Pardot
Purpose Cookie name associated with services from marketing automation and lead generation platform Pardot. The visitor value is the visitor_id in your Pardot account. This cookie is set for visitors by the Pardot tracking code.
Host(s) .pardot.com, pi.pardot.com, skai.io
Cookie Name pardot, visitor_id*, lpv*
Cookie Expiry Session / 10 Years
Accept
Name
Provider Google Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland
Purpose Cookie by Google used for conversion tracking of Google Ads.
Privacy Policy https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en
Cookie Name IDE, 1P_JAR, NID, SOCS, CONSENT, AEC, _gcl_au, OTZ, test_cookie
Cookie Expiry Session / 400 Days
Accept
Name
Provider Meta Platforms Ireland Limited, 4 Grand Canal Square, Dublin 2, Ireland
Purpose Cookie by Facebook used for website analytics, ad targeting, and ad measurement.
Privacy Policy https://www.facebook.com/policies/cookies
Cookie Name _fbp,act,c_user,datr,fr,tr,m_pixel_ration,pl,presence,sb,spin,wd,xs
Cookie Expiry Session / 1 Year

Content from video platforms and social media platforms is blocked by default. If External Media cookies are accepted, access to those contents no longer requires manual consent.

Show Cookie Information Hide Cookie Information

Accept
Name
Provider Wistia
Host(s) .wistia.com
Cookie Name cb_anonymous_id, _sp_ses.2b40, _li_dcdm_c, __hssrc, _gcl_au, _clsk, hubspotutk, _sp_id.2b40, __hssc, __hstc, _uetsid, _uetvid, _gid, _ga, _ga_GQR109DZ3Y, _lc2, fpi, _ex-pricing-cta, _fbp, cb_group_id, cb_user_id, _clck
Cookie Expiry Session / 400 Days
Accept
Name
Provider Meta Platforms Ireland Limited, 4 Grand Canal Square, Dublin 2, Ireland
Purpose Used to unblock Instagram content.
Privacy Policy https://www.instagram.com/legal/privacy/
Host(s) .instagram.com
Cookie Name pigeon_state
Cookie Expiry Session
Accept
Name
Provider Openstreetmap Foundation, St John’s Innovation Centre, Cowley Road, Cambridge CB4 0WS, United Kingdom
Purpose Used to unblock OpenStreetMap content.
Privacy Policy https://wiki.osmfoundation.org/wiki/Privacy_Policy
Host(s) .openstreetmap.org
Cookie Name _osm_location, _osm_session, _osm_totp_token, _osm_welcome, _pk_id., _pk_ref., _pk_ses., qos_token
Cookie Expiry 1-10 Years
Accept
Name
Provider Twitter International Company, One Cumberland Place, Fenian Street, Dublin 2, D02 AX07, Ireland
Purpose Used to unblock Twitter content.
Privacy Policy https://twitter.com/privacy
Host(s) .twimg.com, .twitter.com
Cookie Name __widgetsettings, local_storage_support_test
Cookie Expiry Unlimited
Accept
Name
Provider Vimeo Inc., 555 West 18th Street, New York, New York 10011, USA
Purpose Used to unblock Vimeo content.
Privacy Policy https://vimeo.com/privacy
Host(s) player.vimeo.com
Cookie Name vuid
Cookie Expiry 2 Years
Accept
Name
Provider Google Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland
Purpose Used to unblock YouTube content.
Privacy Policy https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en&gl=en
Host(s) google.com
Cookie Name CONSENT
Cookie Expiry 6 Month

Borlabs Cookie powered by Borlabs Cookie

Privacy Policy Imprint